Norris "nowhere near the capability I have" in McLaren's 2025 car · RaceFans

Lando Norris admitted he hasn’t felt comfortable in McLaren’s new car since the season began after labouring to third place in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

He qualified over four tenths of a second behind team mate Oscar Piastri. Despite a handful of errors in the race, including a penalty for lining up incorrectly in his grid box, Norris made his way forward to finish third.

Although he retained a narrow lead in the drivers’ championship, Norris has now won fewer races this year than Piastri. Afterwards Norris said he hadn’t been comfortable in the car all year, including when he won the season-opening race in Australia.

“When you’re a driver you just know when things click, when you feel confident, when you feel comfortable,” he said. “I’m confident that I have everything I need and I’ve got what it takes. I have no doubt about that – that I’m good enough, and all of those things.

“But something’s just not clicking with me and the car. I’m not able to do any of the laps like I was doing last season. Then I knew, every single corner, everything that was going to happen with the car, how it was going to happen. I felt on top of the car. This year, I could not have felt more opposite so far.

“Even in Australia, whether or not I won the race, I never felt comfortable, never felt confident. The car was just mega and that’s helping me get out of a lot of problems at the minute. But I’m just nowhere near the capability that I have – which hurts to say.”

Norris worked late at the track on Saturday “to look into everything and understand what I’m struggling with, what’s not clicking, trying to figure out what’s changed from last year to this year,” he said.

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“Is it me? Is it some of the car? It’s complicated. But I’m not doubting myself, even though sometimes it may seem like that. It’s just something’s not gelling, something’s not clicking and therefore I just don’t feel comfortable when I’m in the car.”

Lando Norris, McLaren, Bahrain International Circuit, 2025 — Norris had to recover from a poor qualifying result

However he doesn’t doubt he can solve his problem. “I know I’ve got what it takes, but just not confident, and when you’re not confident in the car to know what the limit is, what to do in the slow speed, high speed, any corner – I’m never going to be as quick as I need to be.

“Especially when you’re fighting the best in the world. As soon as you’re not settled, then it’s going to be an issue – and that’s what’s happening now.”

Now in his seventh season as an F1 driver, Norris has always spoken candidly when he’s felt he’s underperformed. He does not believe he could act any other way.

“I think it would be even harder for me to not show any of these things,” he explained. “A lot of this – when I do my interviews and whatever – is probably just getting my frustration out. It’s just because of not achieving what I want to achieve, it’s because of my desire to do well and my ambition to win.

“When I know what I can do and what I’m capable of, and I’m not even close to reaching that – like [in qualifying] – I’m very disappointed in myself. That’s just the way I am. I’m just so hungry to win and I work so hard to win, when it doesn’t go my way, and when I mess up myself, then I’m very disappointed in myself.

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“But during the interviews and saying things I do, I don’t think necessarily have a bad impact on myself negatively. I’ve done it so much my whole life, I’ve learned how to block my own comments away from my thoughts.”

Norris admitted his tendency to be highly self-critical has held him back in the past but he remains convinced he can bounce back.

“Maybe sometimes I lack a bit of self-belief, and I have done in the past. But this is just also me. It’s the way I do things, it’s the way I work, it’s what has made me as good as I am, and probably maybe at times has limited me from becoming a better driver.

“But, like I said, I know what I can do and I’m happy. I think what I can do and what I can achieve is good enough and easily up there with the best. So I just need to get back in that rhythm.

“Yes, maybe sometimes I’m too hard on myself – like yesterday. But I came back today after a nice sleep, re-energised, new day and good to go again and put up a good fight, which I felt like I kind of did. So this was one day, today was a new day, and I have a few days off now to recover and go again.”